The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

BIOGRAPhICAL ENCYCLOP.EDIA.
successfully followed his profession. In the spring of I87I
he was honored by election to the Mayoralty of Canton,
being chosen to occupy that position for four years, on the
Democratic ticket. In October, 1875, he was elected by the
same party Prosecuting Attorney for Stark county, for a
term of two years. The duties of this office he entered
upon, January igt, I876. He was married in 1871 to Clara
A., daughter of Martin Wik]idall, an old and successful
merchant of Canton.
ODMANN, CHARLES, Tobacco Merchant, the
founder of the extensive tobacco firm of Charles
Bodmann & Co. of Cincinnati, was of German
descent, and was born in Hagerstown, Maryland,
February i8th, I827. His father, Ferdinand
Bodmann, was born in a German Principality
near Frankfort, on July I6th, I80Oi, and in 18I7 graduated
with honor from Bamborg College. He subsequently r-eceived a commercial education in a large l)auking-house in
Frankfort, in which he conducted the French correspondenllce. In 1822 he emigrated to this country with his father,
settling at Hagerstown, Maryland, but shortly thereafter removed to Cincinnati, where he remained until his death, in
July, 1874. He left a wife and three children, a daughter
and two sons, of whom Charles was the oldest. As he grew
up he was liberally and thoroughly educated, and very
quickly gave evidence of brilliant business as well as literary qualities. He established himself in the tobacco trade,
and his house grew very rapidly in reputation as one of the
most enterprising and trustworthy in its line in the West.
By diligence and by careful attention, watchful to anticipate
the wants of the trade and to supply them with the utmost
despatch, employing energetic agents and correspondents in
the principal cities on both sides of Mason and Dixon's
line, he soon secured for Cincinnati the largest tobacco trade
in the West, and raised his establishment to pre-eminence
ais a wholesale and retail house in that market. The wellknown warehouse on Front street, which for so long a time
has been occupied by Charles Bodmann & Co., was started
in I852 on a modest scale. It witnesses now annual transactions to the value of over eighteen hundred thousand dollars, and its business is still increasing. Mr. Bodmann, who
was never married, found recreation from the cares of this
growing trade in yearly trips to foreign lands. He became
an enthusiastic traveller, and his cultivated as well as varied
tastes and acquirements enabled him to fully appreciate the
rare scenes and unusual incidents which his Europeao p and
Asiatic tours presented to him. It is said that his travels
carried him to nearly every country of the globe, and being
as clever a descriptive writer as a mercantile correspondent,
he very often gave his experiences to the people of Cincininati through letters published in their daily papers, signed,
"A Cincinnatian." These letters were dated from Jerusalem,
Constantinople, various cities in Australia and in the great
Polynesian archipelago, and were written in an easy, graceful
style, gossipy, sensible and instructive. During his absence
the business ",as conducted by his partner, II. H. Hoffman,
who for many years had been associated wnith MNr. Bodmann,
ODMANN, FERDINAND, late Merchant of Cin cinnati, was born, July i6th, i80I, in a German
of hi Principality ne ar Frank ufort-on-the-Ma in. Htis
o pportunities for education were above the ordi When n ary gr ade, and he fully improved them. He
graduated fiom Barnborg College in i817, and
then e ntered a large banking-house, where be whas fully
fitted for a business career. His father, Davis C. Bodmann,
a Republican i n pri nciple, who viewed with repugnance and
solrrow the de v astating effect of the Napoleonic wars, detet-mined upon emigo ating to the m o r e tranquil Western
world, and reached America in i822 with three sons. IJis
wife die d eleve n years prior to this event. Settling in
Hagerstown, Maryland, h e eng aged i n me rc an tile pursuits
until the death of his father, about six years after, when he
removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, then a small town with little
promise of its future greatness. He erected a large tobacco
warehouse on Main street, between Sixth and Seventh, and
cotndu ct ed a thriving business until his death, on July 29th,
I874. By close at t ent i on to his a ffairs he acquired not only
a large and profitable trade but a fine reputation as an energetic and honorable business man. At the time of his decease the transactions of his house far exceeded in value
those of any other establishment west of the Alleghenies.
Mr. Bodmiianin was deeply interested in the material welfare
of his adopted city, and erected quite a number of fine business houses and residences. He contributed liberally to the
construction and support of public works, and was generous
to the charitable and deserving institutions of Cincinnati.
When he set out in his mercantile career he acted upon the
sound advice given him by his father, to deal entirely upon
a cash basis, and in this way finding immunity from financial
difficulties. He made no purchases on credit, issued no
notes, and was never compelled to request a creditor to call
a second time for the amount of his claim. During the rebellion he gave the government a practical support, and did
much to encourage enlistments and to relieve the distress
of the sick and woundcled of the army. He was married,
Decem'.ber 14th, I825, to Kate Poplem, of Baltimore, by
whom he had six children, of whom but two, a son and a
daughter, are now living. His eldest son, Charles, died on
May loth, I875. Mr. Bodmann was the founder of the
leaf tobacco trade of Cincinnati, and he lived to. see it assume great proportions. The surviving son, George, is a
142
successful n-lerch,-tnt in Brussels, Belgium. The surviving
daughter, l,auretta Louisa, the widow of the late Joseph
Reichart, lives at the homestead at Mount Auburn, one of
.the finest residences in that section of the country. I-ler
mother lives with her.